Well, no one reviewed... Oh well, I'm updating so infrequently it's unsurprising people are losing interest. Here's chapter fifteen...
DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Warriors, times 2357034670234
Fifteen
"Let's go!" mewed Snapdragon, with what Ivy quite blatantly thought was wholly unnecessary pep. "We - can - do - this! We - can - do - this!"
He turned it into a chant. Clearly Chance's appearance and news had buoyed his young spirits up considerably. Chicory hoped that Ivy wouldn't make some cutting mark to squash them. She was fond of Snapdragon, but also, grudgingly, of Ivy, and she disliked the fact that Ivy seemed to be constantly at the kit's throat.
Thankfully, Ivy said nothing, and Snapdragon's chant was the only sound they made as they padded along the edge of the Thunderpath.
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One thing was clear - this was certainly the animal shelter. Chicory could hear the wordless yips and yowls of trapped animals from somewhere behind the shiny, flashy Twoleg front, complete with an adult Twoleg sitting against an opening to another part of the nest.
None of the three young cats particularly wanted to step inside a real Twoleg nest, but they had little choice in the matter - they knew Pine was in there, and different as they were, not one of them would have neglected a cat in trouble.
"How are we going to get the Twoleg to move?" Ivy's hiss ruffled Chicory's ear fur. She turned to him with a troubled expression.
"I-I'm not sure," she admitted. Surely that opening led to where Pine was captured, so it was vital that they gained access... but how?
Unaffected by this small obstacle, Snapdragon bounced up and down excitedly.
"Are we going in there, Chicory? Is Pine in there? Will we see him soon?"
Chicory nodded calmly, deflecting his questions as best she could. "As soon as we figure out how to get past this Twoleg-"
But Snapdragon didn't hear any more. "I can do it, Chicory, really!" he meowed, and, quick as a hare, he left Chicory's side and darted close to the Twoleg.
Now Chicory looked more closely at the Twoleg, she saw that it was dozing, head nodding and eyes closed, but that didn't make it a lot less dangerous, in her opinion.
"Snapdragon!" she whispered fiercely, but the little tomcat ignored her. He attempted to squeeze past the space between the Twoleg and the gap in the nest, but halfway through, he stopped. The ginger kit wriggled. And then he let out a thin wail.
"I'm stuck!"
Chicory stopped breathing. "Shh!" she urged. Turning to Ivy, she mewed, "Come on!"
Reluctant, but evidently realising Chicory wouldn't take no for an answer, Ivy followed Chicory into the nest. Their claws made skittering sounds on the noticeably cold ground. Though soft, the tap-tap-tap of her claws still put Chicory on edge.
"Chicory, I'm stuck!"
"Be quiet!" hissed Chicory as loudly as she dared through gritted teeth. "I'm coming."
Snapdragon's tail was bushed out. He whimpered and kicked his back legs limply.
"Look, you're not dying," whispered Ivy fiercely. "As long as you shut up, we'll be able to get you out."
"But-"
"Shhh!" Chicory and Ivy shushed him in synchronisation. The white she-cat cast a worried glance up at the slumbering Twoleg. It still appeared deep in sleep, but they couldn't take any chances.
"Can you move at all?" she asked.
The ginger tom-kit wriggled his back end vigourously. "I can do that," he squeaked in a half-whisper.
An irritated sigh came from Ivy. "'Cause that's really going to help," he muttered. "Okay, Snapdragon, this is going to hurt, so get ready."
Chicory whipped around, alarmed. "Wait, what are you going to-"
"Ow!" screeched Snapdragon piercingly as Ivy's claws connected with one of his back legs. The ginger kit shot out of the gap he was trapped in and tumbled into the blackness past the gap in the nest. Chicory heard a number of dull thuds. That was enough for her.
"Snapdragon!" she shrieked, preparing to bolt into the unknown, but Ivy stopped her.
"Wait!" he cried. "You don't know what's past there, it might be a drop!"
Chicory opened her jaws to argue that Snapdragon was there, but a gruff voice above her head that she didn't understand the language of made her blood freeze in her veins.
The Twoleg was awake.
"Run, Chicory!" Ivy urged her, voice breaking with hysteria. Chicory couldn't move. "Chic, come on!" He nudged her flank with his nose, trying to encourage her, but she couldn't respond.
As a huge, hairless paw came down near her, Chicory started to hyperventilate. When it touched her fur, that was too much.
Chicory crumpled on the ground.
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When Chicory came to, her first thought was that she had never been more uncomfortable in her life. Her limbs ached, including her tail, which felt as though it had been ripped off and then wedged back on at a skewed angle. Her paws were numb from crouching in this small, wiry thing that she seemed to have been captured in. She barely had room to turn around. To top it all off, there was an overwhelming stench of dog surrounding her.
"What's going on?" Her mew came out as a croak, as though she had not used it in many days.
She did not expect a response, and almost jumped out of her fur when a familiar voice answered her. "You've been caught too, Chicory. We're in the animal shelter."
Chicory twisted her head around so quickly she felt a crick in her neck, trying to adjust her eyes to the gloom as so to see with her own eyes what she had thought impossible. "Pine?"
"It's me," answered her brother simply.
"Oh, Pine, I thought you were dead!"
"I thought you were too. When they brought you in here so still..." Pine trailed off. "But Ivy and Snapdragon told me. Thank the stars. You're alive."
"Ivy and Snapdragon?" Chicory's heart sank into her paws. "Are they here, too?"
"Yeah, you wouldn't believe the fuss that Twoleg made!" Half humourous, half dryly sarcastic, Ivy's voice joined them. "I was wondering when you planned to wake up."
Blinking anxiously, Chicory asked, "How long have I been out for?"
"Three days. Me and Pine have been talking in that time, and there doesn't seem to be any way out of here. Contrary to what Snapdragon thinks. He's getting on my nerves," Ivy added darkly. "Thank goodness he's asleep now."
It was not the time now to rebuke Ivy for criticising Snapdragon, Chicory decided. "And... what about Chrys? Is she here too?"
A wry purr came from somewhere in Pine's direction. "You really think that Twolegs would keep their own kind in this condition? Chrysanthemum is receiving much better treatment. As far as I know, she's still living with the Twolegs that brought me here."
Worry gnawed at Chicory's belly. Why would Twolegs do this to us? An image of Holly, cursing at her for 'allying' herself with Twolegs, came into Chicory's mind. If only she could see me now... Oh, the irony.
"Maybe she was right," Chicory murmured to herself, her tone too hushed for Ivy or Pine to hear her. "Perhaps Twolegs really are... evil."